German [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Romantic, flowing, literary not usually how German is described, but maybe it's time to reconsider. After all, this is a language that has played a major role in the history of Europe and remains one of the most widely spoken languages on the continent. Outside Europe, it's taught throughout the world and chances are you're already familiar with a number of German words that have entered English - 'kindergarten', 'kitsch' and 'waltz' are ail of German origin. German is spoken by approximately 100 million people, and is the official language of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein, and one of the official languages of Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. It's also understood in a number of countries in Eastern Europe. German did at a glance language name: German name in language: Deutsch doytsh language family: West Germanic key country: Germany approximate number of speakers: 100 million close relatives: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Frisian, Yiddish donations to English: numerous contributions including: aspirin, chromosome, eiderdown, hamburger, hamster, kindergarten, plunder, poodle, spanner not spread across the rest of the world with the same force as English, Spanish and French. This is largely due to the fact that Germany only became a unified nation in 1871 and never established itself as a colonial power. In recent years, however, the reunification of East and West Germany has seen the language become more important in global politics and economics. Its role in science has long been recognised and German literature lays claim to some of the most famous written works ever printed. Just think of the enormous influence of Goethe, Nietzsche, Freud and Einstein.